Pollution (like many major cities) and when the rains came, flooding instantly.
But the people flock there for the dream, the dream of making more money, a better way of life. It is the epicenter and financial center for all that's worth. And there is much life there, hustle and bustle and hustle if you're not careful. And people making a way, some big others not as much, some stuck, some living off luck and a prayer, some living in big ways according to western standards.
I went for three things this time. Barry Gordon, the director of Miami Dade College's film program told me of a film he wanted to shoot in Haiti. This was last year and when I came back from Haiti in December I made the connection. I told him I have the connects, he said let's do it and off we went last week. I was able to connect him with people and companies in Port Au Price and the film school in Jakmel, which was quite incredible.
More on that later.
I brought over 80 shoes, cleats and hats for Hollywood Unites for Haiti donated by Miami Country Day Prep School, Lehrman Community Day School and The Green Agency one of the top talent agencies in Miami. I stopped off to my friends at The St. Damien Hospital and dropped off half and by the end of the trip I dropped off the other half to Jonas Petit who runs HUFH on the ground in Haiti.
It's small step, but a start of what I hope will be big and major things to come.
The documentary was to be a minor point and I had really no intention of shooting anything, maybe taking some photos and setting up any interviews or footage for next time. I took a small DV camera primarily for discovery. But I used it as much as the HD camera I took on the other trips. There were many stories and stories inside of stories which couldn't wait. The sound and video will just have to be fixed in post. There was Paula Hyppolite one of the administrators of the CineInstitute, the film school in Jakmel. She moved back to Haiti eight years ago to the mountains and started a coffee bean and cocoa business.
She makes some of the best I've tasted (and I would consider myself an afficianado) and hires locals to work and produce the beans. And Christophe, the owner of The Hotel Cyvaldier where we stayed. First of all; beautiful on every count, location off the coast, rustic, greenery, scenery and the je ne ce quois.
He also runs the school that his father started 14 years ago called the SOS Enfants. It started with two grades and now goes from pre-school to ninth grade. And provides one hot meal a day.
There will be many stories in posts to come and of course the documentary. For now the tales of those living for Haiti, the ghosts of the past which haunt the island nation and those that guard it, the death of the old and the life of a new Haiti, the Haiti that was the Pearl of the Antilles lives underground now, but will live again. The ghosts told me so.
